River Valley Sun responds to social media post, clerk responds to correspondence policy
In a rare social media post, the Woodstock Chief Administrative Officer, Allan Walker, used the municipality’s Facebook page to publicly criticize the River Valley Sun’s April 30 story about the purchase of 105 Moffatt Street. The message was also sent out via email and text through their alert system and posted on the town’s website.
Read the story here:
“I must express my disappointment with the timing, tone, and content of the article published online today, April 30th, by the River Valley Sun,” wrote Walker.
“Friday evening, April 24th, we received a request from the River Valley Sun for information regarding the purchase of 105 Moffatt Street.
Mayor Jones provided a detailed response Saturday morning, and we then received follow-up questions that required staff input.
On Monday morning April 27 I advised River Valley Sun that we would respond on Wednesday or Thursday as we were preparing for both the final Council meeting before the election, and the Candidates Presentation evening. The publication acknowledged this timing and did not reference a deadline for an article publication.”
Walker goes on to explain that characterizing the purchase as a ‘misstep’ is misleading.
“We currently have unusually large cash holdings in both General and Utility capital reserves, and significant police realignment funds available that are accessible for this use, totaling in excess of $3.9 million. It must be emphasized that the building is indeed paid for from our current funds and we are simply awaiting a recommendation from our auditor as to how to most appropriately apply the costs of the purchase.”
Walker explained that a municipal financing loan would have been of “some advantage to spread the cost over multiple years but was not a requirement given our current reserves.”
Walker noted the building will be used by multiple departments.
“To be clear, this purchase did not negatively impact any delivery of service to our residents, nor will it impact our tax rates,” wrote Walker.
“It is also concerning that the River Valley Sun sought comment from an individual that had been Chief Administrative Officer in Woodstock for less than two years and returned to Ontario six years ago and did not give the current Chief Administrative Officer an opportunity to respond to those comments.
“This, quite frankly, is unprofessional conduct and does not meet expected standards of journalism particularly during an election which should require press neutrality and a commitment to present facts without favour or bias. A news outlet that seeks to unduly influence rather than thoughtfully inform risks losing it’s credibility as a source to trust.”
The River Valley Sun made the RTIPPA request in March, prior to the campaign. We stand by our story and look forward to reporting on the town’s response to our inquiries about why the letter was not shared publicly and how the town will manage issues like these moving forward.
UPDATE: Woodstock Clerk Christine Jewett responded to the River Valley Sun regarding the questions around correspondence at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 30:
“The Correspondence to Mayor and Council policy was developed to address the absence of a clear, formal framework in this area. As part of an ongoing review, staff has been assessing and updating its policies to ensure they remain current, consistent, and transparent. Council adopted this policy on August 12th. The letter from the province was written on October 24th.
It is important to note that it is not the municipality’s standard practice to read operational correspondence in open Council. Consistent with this approach, such matters are typically referenced under the appropriate item on the agenda or within the CAO report. For example, the recent approval of By-Law 608.01, A By-Law to Designate a Business Improvement Area was noted in the CAO report as having been approved but the full letter was not read aloud.”
